


dream when i'm not sleeping.

by silentassassin21



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Abuse of Semi-Colons, Ashlyn is a useless lesbian, F/F, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Nini and EJ aren't together, haven't watched the third episode yet so not at all canon compliant, me projecting??? pfffttt no, my second fic in a row of two girls kissing for the first time, only they don't know it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:53:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21521728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentassassin21/pseuds/silentassassin21
Summary: It was an arrangement that worked; Ashlyn got to work on whatever her new piece was and Nini got to practice.
Relationships: Ashlyn Caswell/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	dream when i'm not sleeping.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a complete mess, but I watched that scene of them singing at the piano and had Feelings so this came out of it. Enjoy, I guess.

It had just started as a way for them to both become more comfortable performing in front of others. Practice was one thing, that was easy, but actually doing it on stage, even when the auditorium was empty, was a whole other thing. So they had a deal; every Thursday morning, an hour before school, they would meet and practice whatever they had to. For Nini it was usually a different section of the musical; for Ashlyn it was usually a new piece she was working on. At first it had been slightly awkward, but now it was at a place where not only were they comfortable with each other but they were maybe friends. 

In fact, Nini had started to really look forward to her Thursdays because of it. As she walked up to the auditorium, the soft keys of a piano broke through the silence and she found herself smiling. This was an old piece, one that Ashlyn swore she didn't have lyrics for yet though Nini thought she was lying. Somehow she could always tell when the other girl was lying. It had to do with the way she bit the inside of her cheek. 

When Nini entered the auditorium Ashlyn looked up, hearing her footsteps, and smiled in acknowledgement, hands still moving over the keys. There was an effortlessness to the ways she did it, a familiarity with the notes she was playing, the song she was creating. 

"Hey," Nini said when she got closer, throwing her bag on stage and hoisting herself up beside it. 

"Hi," Ashlyn said, turning back to the piano as she finished the song. "You excited to work on the big scene today?"

Nini groaned in response, making Ashlyn laugh. An unexpected lightness filled her chest, and she couldn't help but grin in response. 'The big scene' was her solo number, _When There Was Me and You_ , and no, she was very much not looking forward to it. These practices together had definitely made her feel more comfortable on stage, but that didn't mean she felt remotely prepared for spending several minutes singing an emotional song by herself. 

"You'll be great," Ashlyn said. "You want me to play the song so you can practice?"

"If you wouldn't mind," Nini said, standing up and walking over to the piano. 

"'Course," Ashlyn said, scooting over on the seat so Nini could sit beside her. "Just give me one sec..." she trailed off as she rifled through the bag at her side, probably looking for the sheet music. She let out an _aha_ when she found it, something which made something weird happen in Nini's stomach that she chose to ignore. 

Ashlyn placed the sheet music on the stand and looked at Nini. It was the first time that day they had made eye contact and it kind of took Nini's breath away. "You ready?" Ashlyn asked, her voice sounding a bit hoarser than usual. 

Nini cleared her throat. "Yeah, ready." Ashlyn started playing and Nini tried to ignore the way that their thighs were pressed together, eyes focusing on the lyrics beneath the notes on the sheet, not trusting herself to remember them in the moment. 

"It's funny when you find yourself..." Nini began singing softly, still a bit self-conscious about how loud the empty auditorium made her voice. As the song went on, however, all she could focus on was Ashlyn's body beside hers and she found it somewhat grounding, blocking out everything but the other girl and the song. By the end she was belting it out as much as one could belt out a song this early in the morning while being seated. 

As the last note left her throat, Ashlyn's hand touched her shoulder. Nini turned, refraining from biting her lip as she looked at the other girl. "That was great," Ashlyn said, a genuine smile on her face. "You're gonna crush it today."

"Thanks," Nini said, her jaw subconsciously clenching slightly as Ashlyn took her hand off her shoulder. Nini looked forward again, trying to ignore the thrumming in her body after the singing and the staring and sitting this close, and her eyes found a piece of paper peeking out from behind the sheet music. "What's this?" she asked as she pulled it out. 

"Ah, nothing," Ashlyn said, face turning red as she snatched the paper from Nini's hands. She had only looked for a few seconds but she was pretty sure this was the piece Ashlyn had been so secretive about. 

"Looked like handwritten sheet music," Nini prompted. "Sheet music with words on it. Lyrics, as they're called in the world of music."

"They're not really lyrics," Ashlyn insisted, gathering up the sheet music on the stand and starting to stuff it all back into her bag. "It's more... poetry, I guess. With... music."

"Isn't that what lyrics are?" Nini asked, trying to make her tone as noninvasive as possible while simultaneously bursting with curiosity. 

"No, it's not _my_ poetry. It's other peoples' poetry and I've just... added music, I guess."

"That's cool, what poetry?"

What Nini had thought was a simple, harmless question gave Ashlyn pause. The other girl swallowed, staring down at her hands. Her voice was much quieter than before when she answered. "Just, uh, some Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop... a bit of Sappho..."

 _Oh_ was all Nini could think. Her brain just kind of shut down, as evidenced by the fact that after a few moments of silence her hand reached for Ashlyn's chin and turned her head so she could kiss her. It was probably the most chaste kiss she had ever had but up there as one of the most intense. Ashlyn's lips pressed back firmly before she drew back, eyes staring wide at Nini. 

"Why, uh, why did you do that?" Ashlyn asked, a hopeful look in her eye. 

"Just... felt like it," Nini said with a shrug.

"Do you think you'll feel like it again?" The hopefulness had seeped into Ashlyn's voice and it made Nini grin. 

"Yeah, I think so," she said as she leaned in again. 


End file.
